


Morning Light

by bfketh



Series: After the Night [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Smut, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 03:06:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3192971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfketh/pseuds/bfketh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the world had regained its hope, Levi had lost his. And when he had tried to follow, it seemed the cosmos had arranged themselves to take one last massive shit on him.</p><p>Par for the course, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is _not_ in the same universe as my other two reincarnation fics, although some of the themes it follows are the same.
> 
> Inspired by [this lovely art](http://kateryna.co.vu/post/108432822930/im-gonna-swing-from-the-chandelier-x-bfketh) by [hana-tox](http://kateryna.co.vu/).
> 
> You can always find me on [my tumblr](http://bfketh.tumblr.com/).

In the end, all the Titans were destroyed, save one.

An exception that the powers that be decided should be taken care of, as soon as possible.

Mikasa had been livid, staring down the newly appointed Council with fire burning in her eyes. It had actually been Eren himself that had talked her down from her murderous rage. She spent the rest of their time in the capital and the trip back home silent, glaring holes into the back of Erwin's head.

As for Levi, unlike Mikasa, he didn't blame Erwin. The Commander had tried, using every last bit of his considerable cunning, to argue for a pardon for Eren, but the Council had refused to budge. The most concession they'd been willing to make was to allow the Survey Corps to be in charge of the execution.

Eren only had one request to make of his Commander.

"I don't want to die inside the Walls."

During the long trip back to their headquarters, Levi had dragged Eren into his tent every night, to spend it with the young man wrapped around him like a limpet. Levi didn't care who saw them. He didn't give a fuck about being discreet anymore - not when their time left together was measurable in  _days_ and  _hours_. Besides, they were already an open secret in the Corps, had been for years, ever since the night Levi had finally given in to the then nineteen-year-old and let him into his bed.

Once they finally reached their headquarters - their  _old_ headquarters, the ones just outside Shiganshina that they had reclaimed a few years ago along with Wall Maria - everyone had wandered off, alone or in small groups. Erwin hadn't bothered to give any orders, even though it was only the early afternoon. Eren probably should have been taken down to the dungeon, but instead he was dragged off somewhere by Mikasa and Armin, and Erwin let them go. Kirschstein had stared off in the direction the trio had disappeared for a few minutes with an expression on his face that could only be described as lost before he had muttered a curse under his breath and chased after them with quick steps.

Levi had returned to his quarters and shut the door, not opening it again until the sun had set and Eren had tentatively knocked.

They'd made love that night with a mutual desperation that left them both exhausted and spent, and left Levi's back covered with parallel scratch marks.

After, Eren buried his face into Levi's shoulder, and Levi slowly carded his hand through his thick, chestnut hair. "Hey, Eren?"

"Hm?"

"You know, we don't have to go through with this." Levi paused, but Eren stayed silent, merely tightening his arms around him. "The whole world is open to us out there; we could disappear, hide, and none of those lazy pigs in the Military Police would ever be able to find us. Hell, we wouldn't even have to go alone. Half the Corps would probably go with us if we asked." 

Eren pulled back to look up into Levi's eyes. "Thank you." He leaned forward, briefly pressing their lips together before pulling back. "But..." Eren's gaze dropped, and he watched those beautiful green eyes slowly fill with tears, shining silver in the faint moonlight streaming through the window. "I promised. I promised to kill every last Titan, and I  _am_ the last, so..." Eren trailed off and hid his face against Levi's chest. "I'm sorry." Eren's shoulders were shaking, and Levi pulled him closer. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Shh." Levi kissed Eren's temple and kept his arms wrapped securely around the younger man, held him until his words dissolved into hiccuping sobs and eventually ceased altogether, held him until his trembling stilled and he finally drifted off to sleep.

Levi didn't sleep that night. Instead, he concentrated on the warmth in his arms, the steady breaths puffing against his collarbone, the even rhythm of a heart that seemed to beat in tandem with Levi's own, everything about Eren that screamed,  _'Alive, alive, alive, alive, alive.'_

In the early hours of the morning, just as the sky to the east outside his window started to lighten, Levi came to a decision.

~~~

The next day had dawned obnoxiously sunny and warm, a gentle breeze blowing just cool enough to keep the air comfortable.

It seemed jarringly discordant to Levi. The weather shouldn't have been like that, not today. The sky should have been dark and covered with clouds. The air should have been cold.

It should have been raining.

But it wasn't. 

That evening, Levi once again locked himself alone in his quarters after they returned from outside the walls. He'd filched a bottle of wine while they were still in the capital, if only to prove he hadn't lost his touch. It was good wine, and, more importantly, it was strong, which was just what Levi wanted. He wanted something strong enough to make him forget. He wanted to forget the smell of the smoke of the funeral pyre, wanted to forget the expressions on everyone's faces, as if they'd all just lost a piece of themselves.

He wanted to forget the feeling of his blade slicing into Eren's neck.

Eren had told Levi he didn't have to do it, that someone else could, but Levi had taken responsibility for Eren, and as long as he was a soldier, he had to fulfill his duties.

Besides, he hadn't wanted anyone else to have to bear such a terrible burden. Better that he take it up; what was one more ghost added to the throng that already followed him?

Levi drained his glass and poured another. The bottle wasn't even half gone yet, and he could already feel it starting to go to his head, probably because he hadn't eaten or slept in nearly two days.

Good.

He set the glass aside for now, and pulled out a clean piece of parchment and a fountain pen. Carefully, Levi wrote out a short message.

 

_**To Commander Smith,** _

_**Please consider this letter my official resignation from the Survey Corps.** _

_**(fmr.) Captain Levi Ackerman** _

 

He looked over what he'd written for a moment, and then added a small postscript at the bottom of the page.

 

_**Erwin, Hanji... I'm sorry.** _

 

Levi briefly considered slipping the letter under Erwin's door, but if it was discovered too soon...

No, better to just leave it on his desk. Someone would find it the next day.

Levi finished most of the wine, retreating into his bedroom with the last glass and locking that door  behind him as well. His steps were still steady, but he could feel his head start to spin when he stood up, and he was glad he'd already changed out of his uniform before he started drinking. He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle the straps now.

Levi set his glass down on the nightstand and picked up an object he'd left out that morning, after Eren had gone to change into his uniform. He got into bed, wincing a little as the movement caused some of the scratches on his back to sting. As he lay there, he turned the object in his hands over and over.

To anyone else, it would appear to be just a knife, and a simple one at that. To Levi, it was a tie to his past, one of the very few things he'd brought with him out of the Underground, and the  _only_ thing he'd managed to keep. Despite its inelegant appearance, it was made from good steel and well-balanced - a tool meant to be used, not a gold-plated tin display piece that couldn't cut butter. The 3DMG blades were sharper, of course, but Levi still kept a very fine edge on his knife.

It proved sharp enough to do the job, at any rate.

Levi sighed and let the knife and his hands fall back down to the mattress. He turned his head to the side and breathed in the scent from the pillows, the sheets. He hadn't changed them that morning - unusual for him - and they stilled smelled slightly of sweat and sex and, most importantly, Eren. Still, even without changing the sheets, eventually all the little traces of Eren would fade from Levi's room, from his skin, from his life, and all Levi would be left with were memories and more ghosts.

Well, he supposed that didn't really matter now. _  
_

He laughed a little bit to himself. Eren would be _so_ pissed if he knew what Levi had done. He could picture it now, those thick eyebrows drawn together in a glower, his mouth pressed into a tight, stubborn line, green fire flashing from his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, you damn hypocrite," Levi muttered as he reached for his wineglass.

He never got to finish drinking from it, as it slipped from fingers gone weak and numb, the wine inside splashing over the bed.

Levi closed his eyes. He was getting dizzier, and he could feel his heart beating faster in his chest.

He opened them again when he felt something trickle down his face. He lifted a shaking hand to his cheek, and his fingertips came away wet with tears.

Huh.

Levi couldn't remember the last time he'd cried. Even all through the memorial service, he'd stayed dry-eyed. Why now...?

He dropped his hand onto his chest, ignoring the sticky liquid that soon pooled under his wrist and soaked through his shirt. He turned his head to look out the window.

Outside, the stars were slowly disappearing one-by-one as the eastern horizon took on a gentle blue glow, tinged with shades of light gold and pink. As Levi watched, though, the colors seemed to fade, everything in his vision starting to go grey around the edges. Levi shivered. He was getting cold, and it was becoming a struggle to keep his eyes open.

"Hey, Eren. It's okay, isn't it? I can stop holding on now, right? I'm tired..."

Slowly, blackness enveloped Levi's sight. As he floated in that comforting darkness, he thought he felt a familiar warmth wrap around him. He let out his breath in a quiet sigh.

He did not breathe in again.

 

**~~~~~**

 

Levi woke up with a start, his lungs heaving for air and his skin clammy with cold, drying sweat. He pulled his hair back from his face with one hand and grabbed his cellphone with the other to check the time, frowning when he saw it was barely past three a.m.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Levi untangled the sheets from his legs and headed for his bathroom and a hot shower. He went ahead and got dressed when he was done - experience told him that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep anyway.

When he walked into the living room, he stared longingly at the bottle of whiskey he'd left beside his chair, but he turned into the kitchen to make himself some tea instead. As tempting as it was to just drink himself into unconsciousness and find sleep that way, going to bed drunk was probably what had triggered the nightmare - memory, really - in the first place.

Once he was curled up in his chair with a steaming cup beside him, he pulled his phone out and scrolled through the contact lists, only hesitating a moment before he hit the button to dial.

It only rang three times before someone picked it up.

 _"Levi?"_ Erwin's voice was thick and rough with sleep.

"Hey, sorry to call so late. I didn't wake up Mike, did I?"

_"Don't worry about it; he sleeps like a log. What's wrong?"_

Levi hesitated. His wrist itched, and he rubbed it against the fabric of his pants. "Nothing. Just... If you or Hanji found  _any_ of the kids, you'd tell me, right?"

Erwin sighed.  _"Of course I would. You know, you're only twenty-six, Levi. You were in your thirties when we met them...before. Give it time."_

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I was a lot fucking older than fourteen the first time Hanji and I met. If things were following the same pattern, I would have found Farlan and Isabel by now." Levi pinched the bridge of his nose as the beginnings of a headache started to stir behind his temples. "What if I never see him again?" He didn't mean Farlan.

Erwin knew that.  _"We'll find him."_ He paused.  _"Are you drinking again?"_ _  
_

"Not...right now."

 _"Levi."_ Erwin's voice was firm.  _"You know you're not supposed to drink with your anti-anxiety medicine."_

"Oh, come off it, Erwin. It makes me feel like shit after, but it's not like it's going to kill me. Unfortunately."

There was a long silence, followed by,  _"I'm coming over."_

"No, shit, sorry, don't do that. It was just a joke." Levi leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath as he ran his hand across his eyes. "A joke in very bad taste. Shit. I'm fine. Really. I'm just still a little drunk, and I woke up after two hours of sleep because of a nightmare; that's all."

 _"Hm."_ Erwin didn't sound entirely convinced, but he let it slide.  _"Today's Sunday, right? Mike has to work, but I'll give Hanji a call. The three of us can go to lunch today."_

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds...good. The shop is closed today, but I'm going to be down there cleaning and checking inventory, so just swing by whenever you're ready. Okay?"

_"Sure. See you later."_

"Yeah. See you later. And Erwin? Thanks."

Erwin chuckled.  _"Don't mention it."_

Levi stared at his phone for a long time after he'd hung up, idly scratching his wrist. He felt a small ball of guilt curl in his stomach because he hadn't been joking.

Not entirely.


	2. Chapter 2

Later the next morning, or rather, that same morning, Levi was going through the canisters of tea stored neatly behind his register, checking to see what needed reordered and what had been sitting too long and needed to be pitched. He was doing so with a throbbing headache and a general feeling of muzziness caused by the combination of a slight hangover and a lack of sleep. Outside, rain gently pattered against the plate glass window.

He'd just pulled a new tin off the shelf when he heard the bell over the door ring. It was too early to be Erwin, so Levi turned, automatically saying, "I'm sorry we're closed...to..." Levi trailed off as he looked up into eyes that shimmered between green and blue, framed by a fringe of chestnut-brown hair.

Lips parted into an easy smile. "Wow, you look...like shit, actually."

The tin he was holding dropped from nerveless fingers, spilling its contents all over the floor. Thankfully, it was that godawful chocolate tea that he'd somehow let his vendor talk him into stocking during a temporary leave of his good senses, so nothing of value was lost. As Levi stared wide-eyed and speechless, another pair of bright green eyes appeared, these belonging to a young woman who wore her red hair tied up in pigtails. "I think you broke him, Little Bro."

"Broke who?" The new voice belonged to a tall, sandy-haired man with light blue eyes that had just slipped into the shop, shaking rain off of his umbrella.

"Fuck," Levi breathed out as he felt his knees go weak, and he grabbed the counter to steady himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of movement as one of the three came around to the back.

A moment later, he was being pulled into a warm and achingly familiar embrace. "I found you."

"Eren..." Levi's arms went around the young man automatically, his hands bunching in the rain-damp fabric of his shirt. He never wanted to let go again.

~~~

Of all the ways that Levi had thought Eren might return into his life, stumbling into his tea shop in an attempt to escape Olympia's ever-present rain accompanied by Isabel and Farlan of all people had been pretty low on the list. He would have been equally surprised by Isabel's announcement that Eren was her  _actual_ little brother if the same thing hadn't happened to Mike and Nanaba. It seemed not everyone had the same parents this time around or even the same siblings. Hanji had a theory that people had the same parents if it was  _important_ that they do, which to Levi seemed more cryptic than useful for actually explaining anything.

All Levi cared about was that the three of them were  _there_ , alive and happy. Eren was going to be starting classes at Evergreen, and Isabel and Farlan had come down from Seattle that weekend to help him get settled into the dorms. They'd taken a break from unpacking to explore the downtown, and they'd been looking for a place to get out of the rain when Isabel had spotted the sign saying  _Levi's Tea Shop_ \- which she proceeded to tell Levi was a boring name and he obviously should have called it _LeviTea_. 

"Oh, my God, you sound like Hanji."

Isabel giggled. "I'm really glad you made friends."

Farlan nodded in agreement. "It's kind of surprising, though."

"Why is it surprising that I have friends?"

Isabel cleared her throat. "Does 'I'm gonna kill blondie' ring any bells?"

"...I do not sound like that." 

~~~

A short time later, Farlan and Isabel said they were going to head back to their hotel, to give Eren and Levi a chance to "catch up."

After they'd said goodbye, they'd headed to Levi's apartment. Along the way, Eren had spied a pharmacy and asked Levi wait while he ran inside, and Levi had tried very hard to pretend that he didn't know _exactly_ what Eren had gone in to buy. Less than ten minutes later, Eren was sitting in his living room, and that really shouldn't have been making Levi as nervous as he was.

He hesitated in the doorway to the kitchen. "Did you want something to drink, or..."

Eren turned his head, peering over the back of the couch at him. "Just get over here, Levi."

Levi slowly walked over to him, stopping just in front of where he was sitting. Eren grabbed his hands and tugged, pulling him down until Levi was straddling his lap, kneeling on the cushions on either side of Eren's legs. He slowly brought his hands up, brushing trembling fingers against Eren's jaw. "You're here."

"I'm here," Eren agreed, running his hands up the outside of Levi's thighs until they settled on his hips. "And I'm not planning on going anywhere, this time."

Levi felt his throat grow tight, and then he was leaning down, devouring Eren's lips in a desperate, hungry kiss. His hands slipped away from Eren's face, slid into his hair, ran down the back of his neck, caressing his nape in a gesture that Levi himself wasn't sure if he meant as a promise or an apology. Eren responded enthusiastically, meeting him movement for movement, his grip tightening on Levi's waist. Everything was so intimately, achingly familiar that he was half-afraid it would all turn out to be another dream. 

Levi broke off the kiss and buried his face into the crook of Eren's neck as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. When he did, he noticed the faint scent of Eren's cologne, slightly spicy and slightly musky, and something that would have been horribly expensive during their lifetime behind the Walls. 

Oddly enough, it was that bit of unfamiliarity that helped ground Levi, convince him that this was _real_ , and he started to relax.

One of Eren's hands left his side to brush back through this hair. "Hey, Levi, can I ask you something?" Eren's voice was soft and hesitant.

"Of course." Levi pulled back to look at Eren.

The younger man was looking down, his teeth worrying at his lower lip. "When I met the others - Mikasa, Armin, and Jean - and we all started to remember, I asked them what happened to you after...after the war, and all they'd say was that you resigned from the Survey Corps." Eren glanced up at Levi then, green eyes shining through his long lashes.

"Oh." Levi felt his heart sink down to his stomach, and he lifted himself off Eren's lap to sit on the couch beside him. He clasped his hands tightly together to fight the urge to scratch, and he stared at them as he gathered his thoughts. He knew he had to tell Eren what had happened - Eren deserved that much - but a part of him had hoped to put it off a little longer. He took a deep breath. "There was...a lot of blood on my hands, Eren. I don't mean just yours. All I ever did in the Survey Corps was lead people to their deaths, starting with Isabel and Farlan."

"That wasn't-"

"No," Levi interrupted Eren's protest. "I don't know how much they told you, but it was my fault. I was so focused on paying back Erwin that I abandoned them, and they died. I put my stupid, wounded pride before the two people that were more family to me than my  _actual_ family." Levi sighed. "The only reason I stayed in the Survey Corps after that was because I figured taking down as many Titans as I could before one of them ended me was as good a way to die as any, and I trusted that Erwin would use me where it would benefit humanity the most."

"That sounds like you only thought of yourself as a tool, or like you were just looking for a way to die."

"You're right on both counts." Levi heard Eren make a short, pained sound and felt him move closer, but he kept his gaze focused on his hands. "I never had any hope that I would ever see the Titans defeated, not really, not until I met you. But it turned out that the world we saved wasn't for me, not when the only person that gave me hope again, let me see that humanity - that _I -_ could have a future was no longer there to share that future with me." 

"Levi..." Eren reached out, placing a hand over both of Levi's hands, which were gripped so tightly together his knuckles were turning white. 

Levi took a deep breath and tried to force himself to relax. "Anyway, I wasn't going to stick around for them to decide to turn me into some bullshit sparkling hero, not after everything I'd done. More than that, I was _tired_ , Eren. Tired of fighting, tired of losing the people I cared about, tired of trying to hold onto ghosts and faded memories. I..." Levi trailed off as his throat tightened. Eren's arm went around his waist as his other hand strengthened its grip, and Levi looked up into eyes full of concern and a touch of fear. He allowed himself to lean into Eren's shoulder. He  _had_ to do this, not just for Eren's sake, but for his own as well. "After...your funeral, I locked myself in my quarters, got drunk, and..." Levi shut his eyes, bracing for...he wasn't sure what. An angry outburst, most likely. "I slit my wrists."

Whatever Levi had been expecting, it hadn't been a sharp intake of breath followed immediately by arms wrapping around his shoulders as Eren buried his face in Levi's hair. "I'm sorry..." Eren's words were forced out, half-choked with sobs.

"Shh..." Levi ran one hand in soothing circles over Eren's back. "It was my decision. It wasn't your fault, Eren. Please don't blame yourself."

"B-but if I had just gone with you, l-like you said, then you...you w-wouldn't have..."

"Hush." Levi pulled back from Eren and cupped his face, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears flowing steadily down Eren's cheeks. "You didn't see them did you? The Garrison soldiers stationed at the artillery on the Walls or the Military Police snipers in the forest. They were probably in place from the moment we were summoned to the capital. If we'd tried to run, we either would have been cut down, or we would've been forced to cut _them_ down. Or both."

"But...but I still... I could've-"

"It's okay." Levi interrupted him firmly, believing in those words for the first time in years. "We're alive. We've got a second chance, in a world that's never heard of Titans, where we don't have to take up anyone's burdens but our own. Everything's  _okay_ now."

Eren brought his hand up to his cheek, covering Levi's own hand and holding it in place. His tears stilled as he looked into Levi's eyes, and then he turned his head to place a soft kiss against the palm of the hand he held. His lips moved down, gentle and feather-light, lingering on Levi's wrist before he dropped Levi's hand entirely, reaching out instead to cradle his head and pull him close as Eren bent down to press a kiss, still oh-so-gentle and slow against Levi's lips.

Then Eren was standing up and pulling Levi after him, leading him down the hallway and through the open door to the bedroom, which was soon shut behind them. The white paper bag from the pharmacy was tossed onto the bed, and Eren's hands and lips were roaming all over Levi, touching, teasing, tasting. When Levi reached for Eren's clothes, he lightly caught his hands and whispered against his ear, "No, please... This time, let me..."

All Levi could do was nod as his voice caught in his throat. He let Eren take charge, let him undress them both, let him lead him to the bed and press him down into the mattress with Eren kneeling over him, looking down at him with such warmth, like Levi was the most precious thing he had ever seen. Eren reached down and brushed Levi's bangs away from his face, and Levi suddenly had to blink as his vision blurred.

"Levi...?" Eren's voice was hesitant, even as his thumb moved to wipe away the moisture from Levi's cheeks.

Levi shook his head, and wrapped his arms around Eren's neck, pulling him close and kissing him. "I'm fine," he murmured when their lips parted. "I just..."  _Missed you._ "...I love you, Eren."

It was Eren's turn to rapidly blink away the forming tears from his eyes. "I love you, too. I always have."

Eren took his time. Took his time trailing his mouth down Levi's throat and chest, leaving scattered marks in his wake. Took his time preparing Levi, because even though his  _mind_ remembered, everything was a new experience for this body. Took his time entering him, until Levi was trembling under him and wrapping his legs around Eren's hips and practically begging for him to  _move_.

And then Eren  _was_ moving, steady and deep and so fucking  _perfect_ that Levi would have questioned how an eighteen-year-old had that kind of control if he hadn't been too distracted by the feeling of Eren's heat inside him, on top of him, around him. One of Eren's hands found Levi's own, their fingers interlacing together while his other wound tight into Levi's hair. He could feel Eren panting open-mouthed against his skin, biting down into his shoulder, an endless stream of half-jumbled words pouring out of his mouth, the clearest and most repeated word being Levi's name. Levi closed his eyes and let Eren unravel him from the inside out and put him back together again, all the frayed and broken edges smoothed and made whole once more.

~~~

This time it wasn't a nightmare that woke Levi up from sleep, but the rather persistent ringing of his doorbell.

He groaned and pulled himself reluctantly from Eren's arms and out of bed. Eren mumbled something and burrowed back into the pillows as Levi put on a robe and tied it shut. He stalked through his apartment and yanked open the front door with a growled out, "What?"

Only to be nearly strangled as Hanji threw their arms around his neck. "Levi! We were worried about you."

Hanji pulled back to eye Levi critically as Erwin walked into the apartment behind them. He frowned at Levi. "You weren't at your shop, and when I tried calling, it went to voicemail."

"Oh. Sorry. Something came up, and I turned my phone off." Levi ran a hand back through his hair, although it was probably a lost cause. "I forgot about lunch. Sorry."

Levi didn't miss the concerned look Hanji exchanged with Erwin before turning back to him. "Levi? Are you sure you're okay?" Hanji's eyes suddenly narrowed and darted down to the neckline of Levi's robe. "...Is that a bruise?"

Levi took a step back, clutching the opening of his robe shut with one hand while he held up the other in a vain attempt to ward of Hanji. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm fine. I'm...better than fine, actually."

"If that's true, then there's no harm in letting me look, is there?"

"Fuck off!"

"What's going on?"

Three pairs of eyes locked on the young man that had just stepped into Levi's living room and was rubbing his eyes sleepily. Eren had thrown his pants back on, but he was still shirtless, his hair sticking up in every direction, and had several hickies darkening along his collarbones. In short, he looked like a text-book definition of "just fucked."

Hanji lost all interest in Levi in favor of tackling Eren with one of their crushing bear-hugs. Erwin, meanwhile, just cocked a questioning eyebrow at Levi. "Something 'came up,' hm?"

Levi just covered his face with his hands and groaned.

After that, any chance Eren and Levi had of spending a quiet day together was well and truly gone. Still, even though Levi was exhausted when he finally was able to go back to bed, he wouldn't have traded a single moment for anything.

~~~

The next morning it was raining.

Perhaps the weather should have been clear, the black velvet of the sky giving way to blue and pink and gold, but Levi couldn't bring himself to care. Not when warm and familiar arms wrapped around him and pulled him deeper into bed. Not when a sleepy voice murmured against his neck, "Stay with me... A little longer..."

It was raining, what morning light that managed to filter through the clouds gone soft and silver.

And it was perfect.


End file.
